#196

The the man didn’t push Lee Seon-jae away. He didn’t turn his back even when Seon-jae lay down beside him. He lay straight as usual, falling asleep due to the fatigue from the surgery and the effects of the medication.

The next day was the same. The the man didn’t bring up Kwon Yong-joon’s name anymore. Nor did he mention Prosecutor Jeong or Kim Delivery. He acted as if he hadn’t heard Seon-jae’s confession. But while it was similar to before, it wasn’t quite the same. He often retreated into his own world, and there were many times when he didn’t look at Seon-jae.

Seon-jae was grateful that the man hadn’t kicked him out and vowed to accept whatever punishment the man gave him. He was willing to wait for days or even months, as long as the Man’s anger subsided.

The the man said he didn’t like seeing Yong uncomfortably sleeping outside the hospital room. Seon-jae didn’t want to bring Yong inside, but since the man asked, he reluctantly whined to Chairman Shin. As a result, two more people were assigned. Thanks to that, Yong also came into the room and slept on the sofa.

It was around 2 a.m. when Seon-jae’s cell phone, the one Jeong Jae-jin had given him, rang. The number displayed on the screen was Jeong Jae-jin’s.

Since there wasn’t even a snippet of news about Lee Seok-doo’s arrest, Seon-jae assumed that Jeong Jae-jin had failed again. He figured that was why he hadn’t called until now, finally pulling himself together to contact him.

“Calling so early,” Seon-jae sneered.

The other end of the line was silent.

“Hello?”

Are you okay?

It wasn’t Jeong Jae-jin.

It was the Helper, Jeong Eun-hee. In terms of family lineage, she was Jeong Jae-jin’s aunt, but also a friend of his aunt.

Seon-jae, who had never known such a person existed, first learned about Jeong Eun-hee when he saw ‘To my beloved Eun-hee’ written on a package left by his aunt. She used the word ‘beloved’ to a woman who wasn’t a sibling, child, or even a friend, but knowing his aunt, it wasn’t surprising. Of course, seeing Jeong Eun-hee following his aunt’s will, it seemed like more than just a simple friendship.

“Yes, I’m fine,” Seon-jae said.

Jeong Eun-hee sounded greatly relieved at Seon-jae’s words. It seemed like she hadn’t heard anything from Jeong Jae-jin, which was unusual.

Listen, Seon-jae.

“Yes, please speak,” Seon-jae replied.

Since she wouldn’t use Jeong Jae-jin’s cell phone just to ask about Seon-jae’s well-being, Seon-jae waited for her to continue.

Jeong Eun-hee hesitated for a long time after calling his name before finally opening her mouth.

Jae-jin is in critical condition. He’s looking for you.

Jeong Eun-hee barely managed to say this, as if squeezing the words out, and then told him the name of the hospital.

Seon-jae frowned at the notification-like greeting.

“Was it a car accident?”

You’ll see when you get here.

Jeong Eun-hee only said what she had to say and hung up, leaving only questions behind.

If it wasn’t a car accident, why was Jeong Jae-jin in critical condition?

What on earth had happened?

Seon-jae got out of bed with a displeased expression. Yong immediately woke up.

Chairman Shin had assured him that they were trustworthy guys, so Seon-jae trusted his word and left the man in the care of the other two. Then, he headed to the university hospital where Jeong Jae-jin was hospitalized with Yong.

At first, he thought it was the work of Lee Seok-doo’s hounds. Then, he thought that some of the Incheon guys had sided with Lee Seok-doo instead of Chairman Shin. Either way, he was convinced that Lee Seok-doo had harmed Jeong Jae-jin.

He never dreamed that the culprit would be Park Dong-Hee, Detective Park.

If someone had asked if that man had the guts to stab someone, especially a prosecutor, Seon-jae would have vehemently shaken his head. But you never knew with people. They say even a cornered rat will bite a cat.

But why did Park Dong-Hee stab Jeong Jae-jin? And why did he bother to find him two weeks after being disciplined? Most of all, he couldn’t figure out how Park Dong-Hee knew that Jeong Jae-jin was at the sauna at that time.

Jeong Jae-jin had been in Gimje all weekend, and even Seon-jae didn’t know when he had gone to the prosecutor’s office and then to the sauna. But Park Dong-Hee knew. Even if he had acquaintances within the police or the prosecutor’s office, including Oh Dae-ho, that wasn’t the kind of information they could have given him.

Jeong Jae-jin had told his investigator and clerk over the phone that he would return to the office in the morning and headed straight to Seoul. When he arrived in Seoul, he went to a nearby sauna instead of going to the office. He must have wanted to wash up first since he looked terrible. In other words, it was information that no one could have known unless they were monitoring Jeong Jae-jin’s every move. It went without saying that Il-gwang was the most likely candidate among those people.

Naturally, Park Dong-Hee and Il-gwang were connected. He was speechless that even Park Dong-Hee had fallen for Il-gwang, just like Oh Dae-ho. It was lamentable. The police had joined hands with gangsters. They were taking money and selling secrets, and even stabbing prosecutors. Something was seriously wrong.

Oh Dae-ho and Park Dong-Hee were both men who took pride in their jobs. Of course, they were shameless men who liked women and didn’t refuse entertainment, but they were definitely not the type to take bribes and line their own pockets.

How had it come to this?

Seon-jae couldn’t shake the feeling that all of this was a tragedy stemming from him. Not that he felt responsible or anything.

Detective Oh and Detective Park were both competent professionals. One was a veteran detective, and the other was a rookie who had just joined the violent crimes unit, but he had been a police officer for over five years. So, Seon-jae wasn’t responsible for the decisions they made. He just felt uneasy because the ending for those involved with him wasn’t a happy one.

Lee Seok-doo was the one who did dirty and despicable things, and he was the one who was living well despite committing crimes, but others were the ones being punished. The detectives who had jumped in to expose the injustices of the world Seon-jae lived in were now repeating those injustices themselves. It was frustrating.

Jeong Jae-jin had undergone a 13-hour surgery and was moved from the intensive care unit to a private room. Not because his condition had improved, but because of security. It would be difficult to protect Jeong Jae-jin in the intensive care unit where there were many people. There was more than one person who wanted Jeong Jae-jin dead. They were probably trying to strengthen Lee Seok-doo’s position by pulling strings from all directions, hoping to get rid of him this time.

Section Chief Park, who was waiting for Seon-jae at the hospital entrance, looked at Seon-jae with a displeased expression.

“Thank you for coming,” he said insincerely.

According to Section Chief Park, Jeong Jae-jin had regained consciousness a few times and had been looking for Lee Seon-jae each time. Seon-jae was dumbfounded, wondering why he was looking for him instead of his grandfather who had raised him, but he was also curious about what he wanted to say so badly.

He took the elevator to the room where Jeong Jae-jin was hospitalized. The security around Jeong Jae-jin’s room was tight. Two uniformed police officers stood guard right in front of the elevator. Naturally, they were wary of Seon-jae and Yong as they got off the elevator.

“It’s okay. He’s the person the prosecutor is looking for,” Section Chief Park said, and the police relaxed their guard and went back to their positions.

Two more police officers were guarding the door to Jeong Jae-jin’s room, sitting on either side of the door. They also tried to get up, but Section Chief Park raised his hand to signal that it was okay, and they remained in their seats.

When the door to the room opened, two men who looked like detectives simultaneously turned their heads towards the door. One was stationed in front of the door, and the other was sitting right next to the bed with Jeong Eun-hee. They recognized Section Chief Park and Seon-jae and relaxed.

Jeong Eun-hee and Seon-jae didn’t acknowledge each other. They only bowed politely and didn’t even look at each other, acting as if they were complete strangers. Jeong Eun-hee looked more tired than usual, but she seemed to be in better condition than she had sounded on the phone. Of course, she was probably just pretending in front of Seon-jae.

Jeong Jae-jin, who was holding his aunt’s hand, slowly turned his head towards the direction of the open door, wearing an oxygen mask that covered only his nose and mouth. His face was so swollen from the surgery that it was unrecognizable.

“Let’s get up,” one of the detectives said to the others at Eun-hee’s request, and they stood up and walked towards Seon-jae.

“Is it okay?” one of the detectives asked Section Chief Park.

“Surely he wouldn’t kill him, would he? The savior of his life?” Section Chief Park replied, raising his voice on purpose so that Seon-jae could hear.

“I don’t think that’s a question for you to ask, is it, Section Chief Park?” Seon-jae pointed out bluntly, and the detectives’ faces twisted. Not to mention Section Chief Park’s.

“Everyone’s just full of talk. If he was so precious, you should have taken better care of him. What is this?” He added another word. Then, a faint smile spread across Jeong Eun-hee’s face, and the others couldn’t say a word and left the room.

Jeong Jae-jin’s head was still turned towards Seon-jae. His eyes were smiling, as if he had heard what he had just said.

“Son of a bitch. I saved him, and this is what I get?” He openly expressed his anger.

Jeong Jae-jin raised his hand to take off the oxygen mask on his mouth.

“You don’t even have the strength to take that off? You’re done for, Jeong Jae-jin,” Seon-jae said and went over to take off the mask for him.

The faces of the countless people who had been hurt and killed because of Lee Seok-doo overlapped with Jeong Jae-jin’s face. Seon-jae bit his lip. He had believed that this man would be healthy. He was sure that he would be the one to die or get hurt. But Jeong Jae-jin was lying there.

Seon-jae felt terrible. It felt like someone was cutting open his stomach with a knife. He never thought that this man would break his heart.

Jeong Jae-jin moved his lips. The sound was so small that he couldn’t hear what he was saying.

“You’re such a pain,” Seon-jae grumbled and put his ear close to Jeong Jae-jin’s lips.

“Baek-gu. Go see that bastard. He’ll be at the company.”

Baek-gu was the nickname Jeong Jae-jin used for Prosecutor Baek Gyu-ri.

If the Anti-Corruption Team failed to arrest Lee Seok-doo, Prosecutor Baek Gyu-ri, who was two classes ahead of Prosecutor Jeong Jae-jin and his college classmate, was supposed to request an arrest warrant for Lee Seok-doo for a murder case that had occurred 10 years ago.

“I couldn’t get the warrant because I got stabbed. So Baek-gu…”

Even as he was dying, Jeong Jae-jin was obsessed with Lee Seok-doo’s arrest warrant. He wanted to punish him within the bounds of the law no matter what. As if that was the last thing he had to do, he specifically called Seon-jae. He was such a frustrating man.

“Prosecutor, worry about yourself at a time like this,” Seon-jae grumbled, but Jeong Jae-jin didn’t care.

“Baek-gu. She… knows everything.”

“Secret operation, my ass. How do so many people know? Even a stray dog would know.”

Jeong Jae-jin smiled faintly at Seon-jae’s grumbling.

“Can you trust that bastard?”

“I have to.”

“Oh, Prosecutor. The result of trust is this, and you’re still trusting?”

Jeong Jae-jin, who had trusted Oh Dae-ho and Park Dong-Hee, was talking about trust even after being stabbed. He had repeatedly told Seon-jae to suspect everyone, but he himself was weak-hearted. He had too much trust.

Jeong Jae-jin’s eyes closed. Seon-jae raised his head and looked down at Jeong Jae-jin. He could hear a rattling sound every time Jeong Jae-jin breathed. He thought he was falling asleep like this. So he was about to put the oxygen mask back on him, but Jeong Jae-jin struggled to lift his eyelids.

His eyes, looking at Seon-jae, were still sharp.

“…Yoon, Ki-beom.”

The man’s name came out of Jeong Jae-jin’s mouth.

Seon-jae raised his eyebrows.

“Yoon Ki-beom? Why? What?”

He quickly put his ear back to Jeong Jae-jin’s mouth.

“Baek-gu…”

That was it. Jeong Jae-jin’s eyes closed, and he gasped for breath. He rattled severely.

“Yoon Ki-beom what? You have to say it before you die!”

Seon-jae raised his voice, provoking Jeong Jae-jin. But Jeong Jae-jin’s eyes remained closed. He quickly placed an oxygen mask on him, but the machine made a loud noise. Among the machines attached to Jeong Jae-jin, the height difference of the pulse drawing his heartbeat increased.

Shortly after, the sliding door opened, and a nurse rushed in. Her eyes met Jeong Eun-hee, who was standing outside the room, watching inside. Her eyes were filled with fear.

Seon-jae left the hospital room, feeling the gaze of Chief Park and the detectives, who were looking at him as if he had tried to kill Jeong Jae-jin.

Before exiting the door, Seon-jae heard the sound of the rapidly moving machine stabilizing again behind him. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and Seon-jae also swept his chest.

Yong greeted Seon-jae with an indifferent face.

“Let’s go to the prosecutor’s office.”

At the mention of the prosecutor’s office, Yong, who rarely expressed his emotions, revealed his discomfort.

“We’re not going to turn ourselves in, so don’t look at me like that.”

Even at Seon-jae’s joke, Yong didn’t smile.

While going to the Seoul District Prosecutors’ Office, Seon-jae pondered Jeong Jae-jin’s words.

Yoon Ki-beom, and Baek Gyu-ri.

He couldn’t tell if Baek Gyu-ri knew about Yoon Ki-beom, or if he was telling him to talk to the man about him. In the end, he would have to confront Baek Gyu-ri directly to understand Jeong Jae-jin’s words.

The joy of reuniting with the man was fleeting, and so many things had happened recently that he couldn’t make sense of anything anymore.

Seon-jae even felt like the day, which was supposed to be equally given to everyone in the world, was not 24 hours for him, but a month’s worth. Otherwise, there was no way that every minute and every second could be so varied and difficult.

He wanted to go back to the man right away and lie down next to him. If he hugged his back tightly and complained, the man would reluctantly comfort him with his unique indifferent tone, saying, ‘Tae-heun, really.’ Of course, that would have been the case before he confessed, but now he didn’t even have that certainty.

man had been silent since Seon-jae’s confession. He didn’t reject or complain, but he felt like he had been complained about and rejected.

Seon-jae pressed his dry eyes with his palms.

Seoul at dawn was very quiet, but still bright. Signs, people, and cars speeding on the road even at this early hour were illuminating the darkness like moths to a flame.

Before he knew it, the van driven by Yong stopped in front of a familiar building.

If he had known this would happen, he would have worn a suit.

Seon-jae, looking down at his too-comfortable appearance, got out of the car and dragged his slippers.

Yong followed like a shadow.

197 – Chapter Title Without Number